Years ago there was a story, true I believe, about a pilot dropping dead at the door as he was on his way out of the Medical Centre at Gatwick with a fresh Class I in his pocket.
Precisely. One is only as fit as the minute the doctor signs the certificate.
I recently renewed my Class 1 med. cert ( at age 74 - no age restriction for holding a 'commercial' licence in NZ ) with a regular ECG. Fit, no problem.
ONLY because of my age was I then required to undertake a further stress ECG, purely as a precaution, but this showed up some irregularity and my licence was revoked pending further investigation, but ......... if I'd been a bit younger the extra ECG would not have been required, and the irregularity would not have been discovered - until I dropped dead at the controls.